1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an orthopedic appliance for controlled loading of the maxillas, more particularly to a nasal airway device which can be used to shape and/or open nasal airways.
2. Related Art
The art illustrates that there is an interrelationship between airway obstruction and abnormal dentofacial development.
Patients with chronic interference with nasal airflow, Panorax's, A-P's, P-A's and CAT scans commonly show misshapen posterior end of the inferior turbonates, deviated sepia, and distorted sinuses. Some patients are "obligatory" mouth-breathers; others report persistent unilateral nasal airway, and a few have postnasal drip. The patients usually relate histories of chronic or recurrent sinus problems. Nasal surgery alone is unlikely to produce optimum results if relationships of bony structures are abnormal. Dental orthopedics can give improvement, if not a solution to all these airway problems and can be adjusted to the exact requirements of each patient until ideal results are achieved.